Welcome to 2008!  I hope you all had a relaxing break. We are now in Victoria on the next leg of our national Listening Tour.  

Since coming into my role, I have been eager to engage with men, as well as women, on the issues of gender equality. You may have seen my recent opinion piece (click to read) on this theme.

To this end, we started our first day in Victoria meeting representatives from a range of different men’s health and relationship organisations. This included researchers, advocates, and service providers. Hosted by Mensline, we had a lively discussion about programs that support men, and how we can work together towards gender equality. A number of gaps were identified in services for men, particularly for young fathers and in the area of men’s health. There was wide-spread support for a national men’s health policy.    

I left with a sense of optimism that men and women working together can bring about real social change. Working towards gender equality is not about a battle of the sexes. 

Today, we also got together with a group of men working in the financial services sector, where we continued to hear what gender equality means for men. For these men, child care was the big ticket item. There was general support for paid maternity and paternity leave, but, once again, the question of who should pay was at the heart of the discussion.  

Is there sexual harassment in the industry? Well, it doesn’t get talked about, but we were told that complaints do get made, and they are treated very seriously.

This is an industry where there is still an absence of women at the most senior levels. The participants saw this as a question of choice for many women, who leave the industry to travel, have relationships, and explore other horizons. I wonder about this. What do you think?  To what extent does choice determine a woman’s career progression?

Victoria has one of Australia’s leading integrated responses to family violence. Critical to its success is the leadership shown by the Attorney General, the Commissioner for Police and Vic Health, together with the Minister for Women’s Affairs and her Office for Women’s Policy and an active NGO sector. This includes a ‘uniform risk assessment tool’, legislative change, and working from a strong evidence base. The next stage is a framework for evaluation.  

I am really inspired by the determination of Victorians to address family violence in an effective and transparent fashion over the long term and I hope to see this approach adopted at a national level.

Liz